COMERFORD WAY: Patrick Comerford’s online journal on Anglicanism, theology, spirituality, history, architecture, travel, poetry, beach walks ... and more
The Nativity scene on the carved triptych in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
Today is Christmas Eve, and we have arrived at the end of the fourth and last week of Advent. Tomorrow is Christmas Day. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I have been praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, the prayers in the USPG Prayer Diary focus on the church’s support for children worldwide, drawing insights from the work of the Delhi Brotherhood Society with children and women.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Saturday 24 December 2016:
Pray that children the world over might know the love and protection of caregivers who are sensitive to their needs. Pray that caregivers might know God’s strength.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
II Samuel 7: 1-5, 8-11, 16; Psalm 89: 2, 19-27; Acts 13: 16-26; Luke 1: 67-79.
The Collect of the Day:
Almighty God,
you make us glad with the yearly remembrance
of the birth of your Son Jesus Christ:
Grant that, as we joyfully receive him as our redeemer,
We may with sure confidence behold him
when he shall come to be our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion Prayer
God for whom we wait,
you feed us with the bread of eternal life:
Keep us ever watchful, that we may be ready
to stand before the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our Lord.
‘Pray for protection for children’ … the crib in the South Transept in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, waiting for the Christ Child (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)
Patrick Comerford
This is the last week of Advent, and we are just two days away from Christmas Day. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, the prayers in the USPG Prayer Diary focus on the church’s support for children worldwide, drawing insights from the work of the Delhi Brotherhood Society with children and women.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Friday 23 December 2016:
Pray for protection for children from those who would seek those who would seek to abuse them, including human traffickers who prey on vulnerable communities.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
Grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
‘Pray that children in every community might grow up with access to education and employment opportunities. Pray that their skills and creativity might find an outlet’
Patrick Comerford
This is the last week of Advent, and we are just three days away from Christmas Day. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, the prayers in the USPG Prayer Diary focus on the church’s support for children worldwide, drawing insights from the work of the Delhi Brotherhood Society with children and women.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Thursday 22 December 2016:
Pray that children in every community might grow up with access to education and employment opportunities. Pray that their skills and creativity might find an outlet.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
I Samuel 1: 24-28; Psalm 113; Luke 1: 46-56.
The Collect of the Day:
God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
Grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A lost Christmas sheep hiding in the Lectern in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)
Patrick Comerford
I cannot help noticing that one of the sheep hidden around Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, by the Revd Abigail Sines in a children’s Christmas trail is named ‘Patrick’ and hangs delicately from the wings of the eagle on the lectern.
I wondered how much of a distraction Patrick proved to be during Monday evening’s Service of Nine Lessons and Carols.
‘The Wexford Carol,’ which was sung to John Rutter’s setting on Monday evening, includes the lines:
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep …
I’m sure those shepherds in Bethlehem kept their sheep away from cathedral lecterns and soaring eagles.
Once again, this was a beautifully planned and delivered service, and I wrote yesterday afternoon [20 December 2016] about one of the carols, the Coventry Carol, which seems to have been a mainstay of many carol services and radio programmes this year. But I was also pleased that the service included two carols with tunes by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Most people know the words of ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem,’ and its words provide commentators with ready illustrations for Christmas-time editorials wondering when ‘glad tidings’ may come to towns like this in the Middle East, meeting ‘the hopes and fears of all the years.’
But how many people know that the tune for this popular hymn, ‘Forest Green,’ was arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams – or, for that matter, know where Forest Green is?
‘Forest Green’ is an English folk tune associated with the ballad ‘The Ploughboy’s Dream.’ Vaughan Williams turned ‘Forest Green’ into a hymn tune for The English Hymnal (1906), which he co-edited with Percy Dearmer, using the tune as a setting for ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem.’
The people of Nailsworth in Gloucestershire claim Vaughan Willias named the tune after Forest Green in Nailsworth. Perhaps their claims have been boosted by the fact that the composer was born in Gloucestershire.
This Forest Green near Nailsworth is in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds. Saint George’s Church in Nailsworth was designed in the Early English style by MH Medland of Gloucester and was consecrated in 1900. Because of a lack of funds, the church originally consisted only of a nave, aisles and south porch, without any chancel or tower. The chancel, Lady Chapel and vestries, dedicated as a World War I memorial, were added in 1939, but the church tower was never added.
Three of the stained glass windows in the south aisle, depicting Saint Luke, Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas, are by Charles Eamer Kempe. Three others depict Saint Richard of Chichester, Saint George and Saint Martin. The other window is by Herbert Bryans and shows the prophetess Anna. The East window was designed by Peter Strong and was installed in 1977.
However, the melody ‘Forest Green’ was collected by Vaughan Williams from a singer, Henry Garman, of Forest Green, Surrey, in 1903, and combined with the words ‘O little town of Bethlehem’ in the English Hymnal in 1906.
Abinger is a large, well-wooded and mostly rural civil parish in the Mole Valley in Surrey. More than half of the parish lies on the Greensand Ridge, while the remainder is divided between the Vale of Holmesdale and the North Downs. Abinger is recorded in the Domesday Book. Saint James’s Church at Abinger Common is a II* class listed building with an 11th century nave, a chancel and north chapel built in 1220.
Vaughan Williams collected ‘The Ploughboy’s Dream’ from Henry Garman of this Forest Green in 1903. Henry Garman was born in 1830 in Sussex, and in the 1901 census he was living in Ockley, Surrey.
Vaughan Williams’s own manuscript notes that Garman was a ‘labourer of Forest Green near Ockley – Surrey. (Aged about 60?).’ However, Garman would have been nearer 73 when he shared the tune.
‘Forest Green’ is shaped in rounded bar form (AABA), and has the cheerful characteristics of folk tunes, which help to support the humanness of this text.
It was adapted into a hymn tune harmonised by Vaughan Williams, and was first published in the English Hymnal in 1906.
The other Vaughan Williams setting on Monday evening was the Herefordshire Christmas Carol, ‘This is the Truth Sent from Above,’ which is one of several folk tunes preserved and popularised by Ralph Vaughan-Williams.
In 1909, he transcribed it from Ella Mary Leather, a collector of Herefordshire folk music, who had herself received it from a Mr W Jenkins, a folk singer from King’s Pyon.
This English folk carol was collected in the early 20th century by many English folk song collectors in Shropshire and Herefordshire and a number of variations on the tune exist, although the texts remains broadly similar.
Cecil Sharp collected an eight stanza version of the carol from Seth Vandrell and Samuel Bradley of Donninglon Wood in Shropshire, although Sharp notes that a longer version existed in a locally-printed carol book.
Vaughan Williams collected a different, Dorian mode version of the carol at King’s Pyon, Herefordshire, in July 1909 from Ella Mary Leather, a folk singer who learned the carol through the oral tradition. This version, which contains only four stanzas, is sometimes known as the Herefordshire Carol.
Vaughan Williams first published the melody in the Folk-Song Society Journal in 1909, but he credited it as being sung by a Mr W Jenkins of King’s Pyon.
Vaughan Williams later used the carol to open his Fantasia on Christmas Carols in 1912.Gerald Finzi, with permission from Vaughan Williams and Ella Leather, also used the melody as the basis of his 1925 choral work The Brightness of This Day, substituting the text for a poem by George Herbert.
The descant is by Sir Thomas Armstrong (1898–1994), who studied at the Royal College of Music with Gustav Holst and Vaughan Williams, who became a life-long friend. Later, he was organist of Exeter Cathedral, organist of Christ Church, Oxford, and Principal of the Royal Academy of Music.
‘Woman was made with man to dwell. Thus we were heirs to endless woes’ ... an unfortunate coincidence linking the last line of Verse 2 and the first line of Verse 3 in a much-loved carol (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)
The text of this carol recalls the fall from grace of Adam, and the promise of redemption by Jesus. However, in almost all printed editions, several of the verses are missing. The missing text leads to a presumably unintended faux pas, with the second verse ending ‘Woman was made with man to dwell,’ and the next verse starting ‘Thus we were heirs to endless woes.’
Of course, man’s woes do not stem simply from dwelling with woman. The full version reads:
This is the truth sent from above,
The truth of God, the God of love:
Therefore don’t turn me from your door,
But hearken all, both rich and poor.
The first thing which I do relate
Is that God did man create,
The next thing which to you I’ll tell,
Woman was made with man to dwell.
Then, after this, ’twas God’s own choice
To place them both in Paradise,
There to remain, from evil free,
Except they ate of such a tree.
But they did eat, which was a sin,
And thus their ruin did begin.
Ruined themselves, both you and me,
And all of their posterity.
Thus we were heirs to endless woes,
Till God the Lord did interpose,
And so a promise soon did run,
That he would redeem us by his Son.
And at this season of the year
Our blest Redeemer did appear,
Here he did live, and here did preach,
and many thousands he did teach.
Thus he in love to us behaved,
To show us how we must be saved;
And if you want to know the way,
Be pleased to hear what he did say:
‘Go preach the Gospel,’ now he said,
‘To all the nations that are made!
And he that does believe on me,
From all his sins I'll set him free.’
O seek! O seek of God above
That saving faith that works by love!
And, if he’s pleased to grant thee this,
Thou ’rt sure to have eternal bliss.
God grant to all within this place
True saving faith, that special grace
Which to his people doth belong:
And thus I close my Christmas song.
‘Give thanks for the work of the Church of North India and the Delhi Brotherhood Society as they reach out to children, with a special emphasis on education for girls’
Patrick Comerford
This is the last week of Advent, and we are just four days away from Christmas Day. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, the prayers in the USPG Prayer Diary focus on the church’s support for children worldwide, drawing insights from the work of the Delhi Brotherhood Society with children and women.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Wednesday 21 December 2016:
Give thanks for the work of the Church of North India and the Delhi Brotherhood Society as they reach out to children, with a special emphasis on education for girls.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
Grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
‘Give thanks for the sensitivity and goodwill of those children who hope for the best for their families and communities. Pray that their Christmas wishes might become reality’
Patrick Comerford
This is the last week of Advent, and we are just five days away from Christmas Day. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, the prayers in the USPG Prayer Diary focus on the church’s support for children worldwide, drawing insights from the work of the Delhi Brotherhood Society with children and women.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Tuesday 20 December 2016:
Give thanks for the sensitivity and goodwill of those children who hope for the best for their families and communities. Pray that their Christmas wishes might become reality.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
Isaiah 7: 10-14; Psalm 24: 1-6; Luke 1: 26-38.
The Collect of the Day:
God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
Grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Lady Chapel in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on the Fourth Week in Advent (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)
Patrick Comerford
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin,
19 December 2016, Monday in Week 4 of Advent,
12.45 p.m., The Eucharist
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25; Gospel: Luke 1:5-25.
In the name of + the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
I know it is not normal to have a sermon at this mid-day Eucharist in the Lady Chapel, but I thought it might be a good idea to share a few thoughts on our Gospel reading this afternoon.
This is the Fourth Week in Advent, and serving as the deacon at the Cathedral Eucharist yesterday [18 December 2016], before reading the Gospel, I lit the fourth candle on the Advent wreath.
The candles we have lit so far recall the Patriarchs, the Prophets, and Saint John the Baptist, and this week’s candle reminds us of the role of the Virgin Mary in the salvific story, the story of the Incarnation, the Christmas story.
Today’s Gospel reading invites us to make a number of comparisons: between Zechariah and Joseph, between Elizabeth and Mary, between John the Baptist and coming Christ.
It has fallen as my lot, for various reasons, as a canon of the cathedral, to preside at the Eucharist today. And in the Gospel story it had fallen on Zechariah as his lot to serve the liturgy (see verse 23) in the Temple.
Zechariah and Elizabeth have no children. Elizabeth is ‘getting on in years’ (verse 7), meaning perhaps she is now in her early 40s. Yet she is a cousin of Mary, who is probably in her early teens. Two cousins, separated in age by a few years, and by many miles from each other, are about to become pregnant.
But compare Zechariah and Joseph. Both have dreams and the angel speaks to them. Joseph has no spoken part, he is silent and he obeys. Zechariah cannot believe what he hears and is made silent.
But both do. They don’t just listen; they listen and in their action they show what they truly believe.
What was Zechariah expecting in the Temple? Was he expecting to meet God? Was he expecting in serving the liturgy to prepare the way for God’s presence among us?
This afternoon we are meeting Christ in Word and Sacrament in this cathedral. But there is a third way we meet Christ in this Cathedral.
The Rule of Saint Benedict reminds Benedictines to welcome all who arrive at their doors as if they are welcoming Christ himself. ‘All who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me”.’
Presumably, Zechariah was welcomed home by Elizabeth (see verse 23). Later Elizabeth welcomes Mary. Within the next week, we welcome Christ into our homes and lives once again at Christmas.
But as volunteers and staff in this Cathedral, we need to be aware that people come to this place as visitors and tourists, yet also have an opportunity to meet Christ. Do we welcome them as Christ, and do they encounter Christ in our welcome?
This is a challenge in today’s Gospel reading.
And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Winter skies at sunset at Malahide Castle this evening (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)
Patrick Comerford
These beautiful crisp, bright, clear winter evenings have continued throughout this weekend. Although the weather is due to turn in mid-week, today was another of those surprising winter days, filled with bright sunlight and clear blue skies.
Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent [18 December 2016], and earlier this morning I served as deacon at the Choral Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, lighting the fourth candle on the Advent wreath, proclaiming the Gospel (Matthew 1: 18-25), assisting at the Altar, and administering a chalice at the Holy Communion.
The Revd Abigail Sines presided, the preacher was the Revd Canon Dr Maurice Elliott, the setting was Jonathan Darke’s Missa Brevis, and the Communion Motet was Anton Bruckner’s setting of the Angelic Salutation, Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
After coffee in the crypt, two of went to a niece’s lunchtime birthday party, and then drove further north to Malahide for lunch at the Avoca Café in Malahide Castle.
Winter colours in the sky at sunset at Malahide Castle this evening (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016; click on image to see full-size panorama in your broswer)
As we arrived at Malahide Castle, the sun was already beginning to set in the west behind the bare winter trees, filling the clear and deep blue sky with streaks of purple, red and orange. These colours in the sky are so unusual in Ireland at this time of the year that they reminded me of the colours on a piece of pottery I bought in Rethymnon in Crete 30 years ago.
After a late lunch, we emerged to the last streaks left behind the bare trees. Anyone within earshot seemed to be struck with awe by the beauty of the scene.
Birds were circling in the skies above, settling on the branches of the trees. But it seemed that every time I tried to capture their movements and sounds they stopped, and just as I stopped filming they started to circle and sing again. It was an easy lesson about the futility of trying to capture nature or trying to reduce it a mere 30 seconds on a camera.
I am back in Christ Church Cathedral tomorrow [19 December 2016] to preside at the mid-day Eucharist at 12.45 p.m. and for the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at 8 p.m. It promises to be a busy week.
Silhouettes in the skies at sunset at Malahide Castle this evening (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)
‘Loving God, thank you for the gift of children, for the joy, wonder and innocence they share. Protect children whose childhoods are taken away. Help us work together for their protection and care’
Patrick Comerford
We have come to the last week of Advent, today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and there is just a week to go to Christmas Day. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
Lighting the Advent Candles
This year, as we light our Advent candles, USPG is inviting us to pray for mothers and babies in Tanzania and around the world.
The four Advent candles remind us that the coming of Christ was anticipated over many generations.
Each Sunday of Advent we remember faithful participants in that journey of faith: The Patriarchs and Matriarchs, The Prophets, Saint John the Baptist, and finally the Virgin Mary. The fifth candle, lit on Christmas Day, reminds of the birth of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world.
As we journey through this season of Advent, we are invited to pray for those who through their life’s journey are in need of a Saviour today.
Fourth Sunday of Advent (Sunday 18 December 2016):
Lord Jesus, your mother Mary
carried you with tender determination
on the dangerous road to Bethlehem.
May the same flame of love
fill your global church to bring courage
and hope to all who carry and nurture children today.
The USPG ‘Prayer Diary’ this week
This week, the prayers in the USPG Prayer Diary focus on the church’s support for children worldwide. The ‘Prayer Diary’ today includes this report from the Delhi Brotherhood Society:
‘Depending on where they live and their family’s economic capacity, children might have very different hopes for Christmas Day. While some hope for the latest toys, others have more basic wishes: safety, food, education.
‘The Delhi Brotherhood Society invited children to draw pictures that described their lives and their hopes for the future.
‘Neha, aged 17, wants protection for children, especially for girls. She wrote on her drawing: ‘Every man needs a mother, wife, sister – then why not a daughter?’
‘Suman, 12, wants her neighbours to enjoy an environmentally-safe Diwa (Festival of Lights) by lighting lamps instead of fire crackers ‘because crackers add pollution to the air’.
‘Shruti, 13, drew a mother weeping because she has a baby daughter and is thinking about the lack of opportunities available to girls in a culture that favours boys. Shruti writes: ‘Save girls.’
‘Mantasha, 15, who wants to be a professor, urges communities to observe environmental cleanliness to help stop the spread of diseases.
‘Humera, 16, is the daughter of a single mother. She wants to see more education for girls so that women might have a brighter future.’
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Sunday 18 December 2016, the Fourth Sunday of Advent:
Loving God, thank you for the gift of children,
for the joy, wonder and innocence they share.
Protect children whose childhoods are taken away.
Help us work together for their protection and care.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
Grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
you have given us a pledge of eternal redemption.
Grant that we may always eagerly celebrate
the saving mystery of the incarnation of your Son.
We ask this through him whose coming is certain,
whose day draws near,
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
USPG is supporting schools looking after the children of marginalised tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka
Patrick Comerford
We have come to the end of the third week of Advent, with just a week left to go to Christmas Eve. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, these prayers focus on the needs of the Church of Ceylon, the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. Last Sunday [11 December 2016], the USPG Prayer Diary told the story of children at the USPG-supported Saint Andrew’s Little Flower Nursery School in Templestowe. The school looks after the children of marginalised tea plantation workers, and the story of two five-year-olds, Durga and Sabish.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Saturday 17 December 2016:
Pray for peace and justice in Sri Lanka. We pray for an end to tensions among ethnic and religious groups, and heart-felt reconciliation.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The cast of ‘Call the Midwife’ on set in South Africa … the Christmas special honours SPG and USPG missionaries
Patrick Comerford
During my morning prayers each morning during this season of Advent, I have been using the prayers and reflections in the ‘Prayer Diary’ of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partnership in the Gospel).
USPG was formed as the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel over half a century ago when two agencies, SPG (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) and UMCA (Universities’ Mission to Central Africa), came together in 1965.
SPG has a starring role in a special Christmas edition of the BBC’s Call the Midwife.
The show follows the fortunes of the midwives and nuns at Nonnatus House, in East London, in 1961. In the Christmas special, the Revd Tom Hereward and a number of the sisters and midwives are sent by SPG to help a struggling clinic in South Africa.
USPG played a significant role in helping the BBC to research the episode, including input from the USPG General Adviser, Canon Edgar Ruddock, who was a mission companion in South Africa in the 1980s.
In the USPG December newsletter, Edgar Ruddock explains: ‘I had a lengthy phone conversation with the key researcher who tapped into my knowledge of the 1980s when many Church-founded hospitals were still operating across rural southern Africa. I was also able to point them to various older colleagues who had worked there as doctors or nurses during the 1960s.’
As a special thank you to Edgar – and much to his surprise – the show’s writers named the character of a coroner after him; look out for Edgar’s name on a brass plaque on the coroner’s office door in the new series being screened next year.
Without wanting to offer any spoiler material, USPG has offered a little sneak preview from the BBC about the Christmas special: ‘Nonnatus House receives an SOS from a tiny mission hospital. Understaffed, underfunded, and with a poor water supply, struggling Hope Clinic is faced with closure.’
The BBC adds: ‘Far from home and everything familiar, the team are both shaken and exhilarated by the challenges they face – and by the time the mission trip is over, some lives are permanently changed.’
Mission has changed a lot since the 1960s. We used to think of mission as something that ‘we over here’ did for ‘them over there’ – but now we understand that mission is ‘from everywhere to everywhere’. There is no one part of the Church that has the monopoly on Christian understanding – instead we are all learning from each other.
USPG no longer sends missionaries in the old-fashioned sense. However, USPG is still sending mission volunteers to South Africa and still supports and encourages the movement of people in mission. The difference is that the movement of people today is, again, ‘from everywhere to everywhere.’
For USPG, mission is an adventure. In recent years, USPG has supported a Cuban doctor to work in Uruguay and a Ghanaian priest to work in The Gambia. Mission today is about a global network of Christians who all have needs and skills, something they need to learn and something they have to share.
The days of Call the Midwife may be behind us, but USPG has also prepared a Christmas Nativity play that contrasts the experiences of the Holy Family and a modern rural couple in Bangladesh who have been supported by USPG trained midwives.
The TEA Project reports that poverty in Sri Lanka continues to be a growing problem, despite the country having high levels for life expectancy, literacy rate and in other social indicators (Photograph: TEA Project)
Patrick Comerford
We are approaching the end of the third week of Advent. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, these prayers focus on the needs of the Church of Ceylon, the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. Last Sunday [11 December 2016], the USPG Prayer Diary told the story of children at the USPG-supported Saint Andrew’s Little Flower Nursery School in Templestowe. The school looks after the children of marginalised tea plantation workers, and the story of two five-year-olds, Durga and Sabish.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Friday 16 December 2016:
Pray for inner transformation for those within tea plantation communities that are struggling with alcoholism, domestic violence and child abuse.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
Isaiah 56: 1-3, 6-8; Psalm 67; John 5: 33-38.
The Collect of the Day:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
‘Give thanks for the church’s efforts in Sri Lanka to provide better nutrition for families living in conditions of hardship on the tea plantations’
Patrick Comerford
We are in the third week of Advent. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, these prayers focus on the needs of the Church of Ceylon, the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. Last Sunday [11 December 2016], the USPG Prayer Diary told the story of children at the USPG-supported Saint Andrew’s Little Flower Nursery School in Templestowe. The school looks after the children of marginalised tea plantation workers, and the story of two five-year-olds, Durga and Sabish.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Thursday 15 December 2016:
Give thanks for the church’s efforts in Sri Lanka to provide better nutrition for families living in conditions of hardship on the tea plantations.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
Isaiah 54: 1-10; Psalm 30: 1-5, 11-12; Luke 7: 24-30.
The Collect of the Day:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Triptych of Saint John the Baptist and the Baptism of Christ in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
We are approaching the end of the academic semester, and later this evening [14 December 2016] I am presiding at the Eucharist in the Chapel of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. The preacher is the Revd Geoff Hamilton, a Year III MTh student, and We are using the Collect, readings, Proper and Post-Communion Prayer of the Third Sunday of Advent or Gaudete Sunday, which fell last Sunday [11 December 2016].
This photograph of the Triptych of Saint John the Baptist and the Baptism of Christ in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield, and these notes are included in this evening’s chapel booklet:
A note on this evening’s Eucharist and hymns:
This evening we hear the Collect, Readings, Proper and Post-Communion Prayer for the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday. This is the Sunday in Advent, when we remember Saint John the Baptist and rejoice in his anticipation of the coming of Christ. On the Advent wreath, the rose-coloured or pink candle, symbolsing Saint John the Baptist, is lit alongside the two violet candles, symbolising the Patriarchs and the Prophets. The readings emphasise the joyous anticipation of Christ’s coming, yet in our anticipation we sing no Gloria in Advent, waiting instead for the angelic Gloria that is to announce Christ’s birth.
Processional Hymn: ‘Long ago, prophets knew’ (Church Hymnal, 133) was written in 1970 by the Methodist hymn-writer the Revd Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000). The tune Personent Hodie is from Piæ Cantiones (Griefswald, 1582), a collection of Finish and Swedish sacred songs. Tis collection also included the Advent carol Gaudete In 1853, this collection came to the attention of the Revd Thomas Helmore (1811-1890) and the Revd John Mason Neale (1818-1866), who published the hymn ‘Long ago, prophets knew.’ In 1925, it was arranged by Gustav Holst (1874-1934), a former student of the Irish-born composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.
Gradual: ‘On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry’ (Church Hymnal, 136) was written in French in 1718 by Charles Coffin (1676-1749) of the University of Paris, and translated by the Revd John Chandler (1806-1876). The melody, from George Wittwe’s Musikalisches Hand-Buch (Hamburg, 1690), was adapted as the tune ‘Winchester New’ by Canon William Henry Havergal (1793-1870).
Creed: Instead of a credal statement this evening, we listen to the Advent carol Gaudete, which reached No 14 in the charts in England with Steeleye Span in the early 1970s.
Offertory: ‘Of the Father’s heart begotten’ (Church Hymnal, 175) is the oldest hymn in the Church Hymnal. It was written by Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (ca 343-413), a judge in the Roman imperial court, as a challenge to Arianism. It was translated by John Mason Neale and the Revd Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877). The tune is a later form of a plainsong melody in Piæ Cantiones (1582), and was arranged as the tune Corde natus (Divinium mysterium) by Sir David Wilcocks of King’s College, Cambridge.
Communion Hymn: As we receive Holy Communion, we sing ‘Jesus, remember me’ (Church Hymnal, 617), by Jacques Berthier (1923-1994) and the Taizé Community.
Post Communion Hymn: ‘Hills of the north, rejoice’ (Church Hymnal, 128) by the Revd Charles E Oakley (1832-1865) and the editors of English Praise. The tune Little Cornard was written for this hymn by Martin Shaw (1875-1958) while he was the organist at Saint Mary’s, Primrose Hill, where the Vicar was Canon Percy Dearmer (1867-1936), co-editor of the English Hymnal with Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). The tune takes its name from the Suffolk village where the composer spent his honeymoon.
‘Give thanks for the USPG-supported programme run by the Church of Ceylon to support education for the children of tea plantation workers’
Patrick Comerford
We are half way through the third week of Advent. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, these prayers focus on the needs of the Church of Ceylon, the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. Last Sunday [11 December 2016], the USPG Prayer Diary told the story of children at the USPG-supported Saint Andrew’s Little Flower Nursery School in Templestowe. The school looks after the children of marginalised tea plantation workers, and the story of two five-year-olds, Durga and Sabish.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Wednesday 14 December 2016:
Give thanks for the USPG-supported programme run by the Church of Ceylon to support education for the children of tea plantation workers.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
We are in the third week of Advent. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, those prayers focus on the needs of the Church of Ceylon, the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. On Sunday [11 December 2016], the USPG Prayer Diary told the story of children at the USPG-supported Saint Andrew’s Little Flower Nursery School in Templestowe. The school looks after the children of marginalised tea plantation workers, and the story of two five-year-olds, Durga and Sabish.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Tuesday 13 December 2016:
Pray that business and political leaders will seek to improve living conditions for all who live and work on Sri Lanka’s tea estates.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
We are in the third week of Advent. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning in Advent and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week, those prayers focus on the needs of the Church of Ceylon, the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. Yesterday, the USPG Prayer Diary told the story of children at the USPG-supported Saint Andrew’s Little Flower Nursery School in Templestowe. The school looks after the children of marginalised tea plantation workers, and the story of two five-year-olds, Durga and Sabish.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Monday 12 December 2016:
Pray for Durga and Sabish, who live with their families on tea estates in Sri Lanka (see article). Pray that they might know a future filled with hope.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
Numbers 24: 2-7, 15-17; Psalm 25: 3-8; Matthew 21: 23-27.
The Collect of the Day:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
‘The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist’ Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1608), Saint John’s Co-Cathedral, Valetta, Malta
Patrick Comerford
Today is the Third Sunday of Advent or Gaudete Sunday [11 December 2016], and later this morning [11.30 a.m.] I am presiding at the Community Eucharist in the Chapel of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and David McComb, an MTh student, is preaching.
This image of Carravagio’s ‘The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist’ (1608) and these notes are included in this morning’s chapel booklet:
A note on this morning’s Eucharist and hymns:
This morning is the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday. On this Sunday we remember Saint John the Baptist and rejoice in his anticipation of the coming of Christ. On the Advent wreath, the rose-coloured or pink candle is lit alongside the two violet or blue candles, which represent the first two Sundays of Advent, symbolising the Patriarchs and the Prophets. The readings emphasise the joyous anticipation of the Lord’s coming, yet in our anticipation we sing no Gloria in Advent, waiting instead for the angelic Gloria that is to announce Christ’s birth.
Processional Hymn: ‘Long ago, prophets knew’ (Church Hymnal, 133) was written in 1970 by the Methodist hymnwriter the Revd Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000). The tune Personent Hodie is from Piae Cantiones (Griefswald, 1582), which in 1853 came into the hands of the Revd Thomas Helmore (1811-1890) and the Revd John Mason Neale (1818-1866). It was arranged in 1925 by Gustav Holst (1874-1934), who was a student of the Irish-born Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.
Gradual: ‘On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry’ (Church Hymnal, 136) was written in French in 1718 by Charles Coffin (1676-1749), Rector of the University of Paris, and translated by the Revd John Chandler (1806-1876). The melody, from George Wittwe’s Musikalisches Hand-Buch (Hamburg, 1690), was adapted as the tune ‘Winchester New’ by Canon William Henry Havergal (1793-1870).
Offertory: ‘Of the Father’s heart begotten’ (Church Hymnal, 175) is the oldest hymn in the Church Hymnal. It was written by Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (ca 343-413), a judge in the Roman imperial court, as a challenge to Arianism. It was translated by John Mason Neale and the Revd Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877). The tune is a later form of a plainsong melody in Piae Cantiones (1582), and was arranged as the tune Corde natus (Divinium mysterium) by Sir David Wilcocks of King’s College, Cambridge.
Communion Hymn: As we receive Holy Communion, we sing ‘Jesus, remember me’ (Church Hymnal, 617), by Jacques Berthier (1923-1994) and the Taizé Community. Berthier, in collaboration with Father Robert Giscard and Father Joseph Gelineau, developed the ‘songs of Taizé’ genre. He composed 284 songs and accompaniments for Taizé, including Laudate omnes gentes and Ubi Caritas.
Post Communion Hymn: ‘Hills of the north, rejoice’ (Church Hymnal, 128) by the Revd Charles E Oakley (1832-1865) and the editors of English Praise. The tune Little Cornard was written for this hymn by Martin Shaw (1875-1958) while he was the organist at Saint Mary’s, Primrose Hill, where the Vicar was Canon Percy Dearmer (1867-1936), co-editor of the English Hymnal with Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). The tune takes its name from the Suffolk village where the composer spent his honeymoon.
This is the Third Sunday of Advent, and later this morning I am presiding at the Community Eucharist in the Chapel of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute.
This Sunday is often known as Gaudete Sunday, and this morning we light the Third Candle (Pink) on the Advent Wreath, which represents Saint John the Baptist.
Third Sunday of Advent: Sunday 11 December
Saint John the Baptist:
Lord Jesus, your cousin John
prepared the way for your coming.
Inspire your church across the world,
like John, to speak out against injustice:
that the world may become
a fairer and just home for all.
Praying through Advent:
Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel). This week, the prayers focus on the needs of the Church of Ceylon, the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka.
The USPG Prayer Diary this morning includes an article by teachers at the USPG-supported Saint Andrew’s Little Flower Nursery School in Templestowe. The school looks after the children of marginalised tea plantation workers:
‘Durga is five years old. When she came to school for the first time nine months ago she didn’t know how to hold a pencil, but now she can write everything. She likes dancing and shows leadership qualities. She studies hard, and one day she would like to be a teacher.
‘Durga lives on the Templestowe tea estate in a small mud house. Her mother works on the estate, while her father works in a rice mill. [At least one parent must work on the estate for the family to have a house.]
‘When her mother goes to work, she takes Durga to school and Durga’s three-year-old sister to the Child Development Centre, which is run by the Church of Ceylon.
‘Sabish is also five years old. He walks half-a-kilometre from Injara tea estate to school. His father works on the estate, while his mother works at home making clothes then selling what she can. Sabish’s grandmother also lives in their small house.
‘Sabish is clever and talkative. He likes drawing, singing and football, and his dream is to become a doctor and help his community.’
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Sunday 11 December 2016:
Loving Lord, as we look forward to celebrating your birth,
we pray especially for children, babies and families.
Bless them, their homes and communities.
Let them know the fullness of your love and purpose.
‘Inspire your church across the world, like John, to speak out against injustice: that the world may become a fairer and just home for all’
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
Isaiah 35: 1-10; Psalm 146: 4-10, or the Canticle Magnificat; James 5: 7-10; Matthew 11: 2-11.
The Collect of the Day:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post-Communion Prayer:
Father,
we give you thanks for these heavenly gifts.
Kindle us with the fire of your Spirit
that when Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
We have arrived at the end of the second week of Advent. Throughout this time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas, I am praying each morning and using for my reflections the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
USPG has also been marking the time around the beginning of Advent, from 25 November to 10 December, as ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.’ These 16 days come to an end today.
The USPG Prayer Diary:
Saturday 10 December 2016:
Pray that for the year ahead we might all continue to lobby and campaign for freedom, safety, justice and equality for women and girls.
Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland, Holy Communion):
Sirach 48: 1-4, 9-11, or II Kings 2: 9-19; Psalm 80: 1-4, 18-19; Matthew 17: 10-13.
The Collect of the Day:
Father in heaven,
who sent your Son to redeem the world
and will send him again to be our judge:
Give us grace so to imitate him
in the humility and purity of his first coming
that when he comes again,
we may be ready to greet him with joyful love and firm faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
